The President of Aurealis Awards organisers Conflux Inc, Nicole Murphy, said to all finalists: “to be judged as producing one of the stand out works of 2013 is something that all finalists can be immensely proud of.”

“Their works will now be known as among the best produced by an Australian and that’s a remarkable thing to have achieved.”

The Deep was among a record number of entries with over 800 works submitted to the twelve categories that make up the Aurealis Awards.

Gestalt Publishing’s Editor-in-Chief, Wolfgang Bylsma, was thrilled at the news.

“It is absolutely fantastic that the quality of Tom and James’ storytelling has been recognised and acknowledged with this year’s Aurealis Award for Best Graphic Novel, ” he said.